Feel the Burn!

With all that we know about healthy eating and exercise, how many of us can say that we do either regularly.  No, I don’t mean once a week.  What I do mean by regularly is that 3-4 times per week, you get some form of cardiovascular exercise.  Well, at the ripe old age of forty-something, I have finally gotten to a place where I exercise regularly.  It is increasingly becoming a lifestyle change for me.  Before you know it, I may become a female Billy Blanks.  Umm, maybe that’s going a little too far.

Even with all the time that I have spent trying to keep my body healthy, I still go through periods when I’m not as diligent as I should be.  Lately, because of traveling and families coming to visit, I have been thrown off my normal routine.  And let me tell you; it has been rough getting back into it.  It’s like I have never worked out before.  The other day, I was doing one of my many exercise videos, and just when I wanted to just STOP, I heard Brother Billy say, “You’ve got to feel the burn.”  When I heard that, I knew that I had to keep going because I’ve learned what takes place when you push past the burn.  When you push past the burn, you increase your level of endurance and strength.  And that’s what I want, more endurance and strength.

In order to gain more endurance and strength, you must continue to push past the burn.  You see, the burn indicates that your muscles and lungs are getting ready to go to the next level of strength.  When your body starts to produce lactic acid, you feel a burning sensation in your arms and legs, and your chest starts to hurt.  And this is the point when most people stop and say to themselves, “OK, that’s enough.”  These are the people who don’t get the results that they could get if they would only push past the pain and go to the next level.  As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.  You cannot and will not reach your spiritual potential by quitting when you have just reached a place that will help you to grow.  Yes, I know it is painful.  But beloved, that is the only way to gain the strength and endurance that you need to reach your spiritual potential.

Just think about it this way.  There isn’t one great person in history that arrived where he/she is by doing only enough to get by.  If you are going to be great at whatever you are doing, you must give it everything you have.  My mother had a saying, and I think that it bears repeating here: “Honey, you’ve got to pay the cost to be the boss.”

May Your Strength Be Renewed!

Your First Lady